2008 OGF crappie Open

Thanks to our sponsors: Frabill, Land Big Fish, Microspoons, and Great Lakes Supply. There support was greatly appreciated and we hope everyone enjoyed the prize and tackle giveaways.

Results of the event will be posted shortly once the spreadsheet gets done.

I had one of those "life lesson" opportunities with Nick out there. Fishing was tough for us, and the weather made it tougher, especially with a 10 year old that didn't really dress for the weather... He suffered, but still didn't complain. We talked about tournament fishing and how tough it can be, and that when things are tough, you can't give up. We caught several fish, but only 3 were keepers. The microspoons caught all Nick's fish and I got mine on a Sliderhead jig fishing shallow. Most fish were deeper though... Oh well. In an effort to keep us out of the wind, we sat in a nice, protective cove most of the day. Terrible showing in the tournament, but still a good memory for a father and son.

I know Stretch took a lot of pictures... I only took a couple. Didn't want to get the camera wet and ruin it. Been there, done that.

Nick and his Microspoon crappie (chartruse tipped with minnow)

The weigh in

I also wanted to thank the contestants of the event. The weather was not real good for a lot of the day, but I'm pretty sure everyone caught fish. We caught crappie, bass, catfish, and a monster white bass... Lots of limits brought to the scales, proving once again the quality of angler we have here on OGF. Thanks especially to YOU for entering and sharing the day with us.

I'm sure Nick will remember that day for a long time and think more about the time spent with you then how you placed in the tourney. It was rough out there,felt like a day on Erie. Our biggest fish did come in the shallow water but most from 10-18ft. Had to work for them,well my partner did,I wasn't much help. Glad he brought the Vex! Had a nice white bass,too bad it wasn't a crappie. All in all it was good even though we missed the door prize drawing while we were getting the boat ready for the trip home. Planning next years trip already. It was nice seeing people I knew as well as new faces. Going to cook some of those fish up here today. Thanks to all that put this together,it went well.

what a day!!! wow was it rough!!! we tried to hide in a cove but knew where the fish were...out in the 2-3 foot waves!!! all our fish came in DEEP water on small cranks...fought the weather all day but that is what you do to have fun right!!! took on several gallons of water over the bow...finnaly with 2 hrs left we got into some active fish but it was too late...still will be there next year!!! kudos to big daddy for keeping nick out of the main lake!!! only 2 other boats were ever close to us because the waves and wind were like a day on the big pond!!! should have brought the 19' er and not the 12'er!!!! just wait till next year!!! (can ya tell im a cleveland sports fan??!!)

I second Wave Warrior and Big Daddy. Thanks for a great day. We took the inflatable back underneath the 229 bridge and tried finding calm water. By the way Wave Warrior, the inflatable did great, even in the heavy chop, but would have been in trouble if we would have tried launching in from the marina. Water was very muddy and we were able to briefly find a few fish in a few clearer holes. Used roadrunners Chartreuse/Black and caught 3 nice ones(1 gotta way when heading for shore) but nothing spectacular. At the end tried the bank by the Marina but it was not to be in the end. I was amazed to see how many folks found their limit and Big Daddy is right when he talks about the quality of fisherman. WOW there are some Jimmy Houston students out there LOL I was somewhat embarrased to bring our 2 fish to the scales, but it was my 1st tournament and felt there was no shame that my partner and I tried our best. It just makes me want to get back out on the lake and try even harder, which will do Tuesday here in the Akron area. I did not have the opportunity to meet you Wave Warrior or Big Daddy and many more than post but I did want to shake your hands for your insight leading up to the tournament so I will simply say hope to see you on the lake and will get ready for next year.

another great job pulled off by the staff
i was surprised to see the number of fish caught in those conditions,and congrats to those walked away with paychecks,as well as those who just toughed it out and managed to get on the fish.i think there were more and bigger bags than in any of the past tourneys,or awfully close to it.that says something in itself,for all of you.
though our game plan worked,it wasn't quite enough,with all that great competition.another testament to the skill and success of others,as our weight would have gauranteed a nice check in any of the previous years.
kudos to nick for hanging in there when the weather even had me questioning my sanity for riding it out.
congrats to chaunc for cashing a check after driving all the way from pa. to fish a strange lake for the first time,though i also question his sanity for doing so
and i have to congratulate CHOPIQ for the top finish(AGAIN)LOL.
hope you don't find that tracking devise i installed on your boat.hopefully it will help me next year
and thanks to trish from the bait store and marina,for going out of her way to deliver the quality bait to some of us.i hope you hoover fishermen remember her when you head to the lake this year.

ps to ruminator.....................thanks again,for the coffee and donuts,but next year,please hide a few dogs for me so the gang doesn't eat them all before i get my slow self to the eating table

... ...Glad to hear chaunc cashed a check...He made the remark the other day...He was leaving for Ky. after the tourney and was hoping to take some extra cash with him....Looks like he will....
:C GOOD FISHING GUYS

Tought fishing? We only weighed in one fish, but Cole caught it so it was worth it. I was ready to leave by noon, but he called mom for some dry clothes and wanted to keep fishing.
It was fun, but we spent most of the time throwing back yellow bellies and sun fish.

Thanks to all the sponsers, Chaunc for the micro spoons, Land Big Fish for the gift cards. Cole decided that he needs a bigger tackle box for next year. BTW-Stretch- can you pm or post a couple of the little guy? On top of forgetting the rain gear, I forgot the camera. Thanks!

KMB;
Glad to see you again. Hope the little guy dried out. I know he was dry on top with the hat! Thanks as always for stopping by and chating. Your always great when ever you show up. Glad you both had a good time.
Thanks to all that made it out yesterday. Enjoyed seeing many old friends and meeting a few members that I haven't had the pleasure of until yesterday.
Good job to all the winners. You, the members, make all the work worth while.

had a great time guys, boated some nice fish, got really freakin wet and had a lot of fun.

best was seeing Frame and Misfit trying to figure out where the minnow bucket was so they could go get their minnows... meanwhile misfit is begging me to steal a box of doughnuts for him and frame's begging me to snatch the coffee machine..... MEANWHILE im trying to get in the goat-boat to head out in the rain.

anyway, unlike last year, we both put fish in the livewell... did quite well actually and we thought we'd rank higher than we did. Lots of people boated a lot of nicer fish than us unfortunately.

we were ON THE FISH, and they were hitting hard and good, problem was the wind prevented us from maintaining bait/boat position

THANK GOD swollengoat convinced me into food processing four pounds of vandalia onion's to put in the second crappie nibble bait pump, that sure as hell did the trick on the finicky bite! the buck jigger pole sure made feeling the bite much easier i might add.

but what can you do? right.

congrats to ogf on putting on another great tournament, we'll be back again next year for sure!

i still think we should have stolen ricks 02 tank to give our shiners the hyper wiggles... we would have won for sure.

Thanks for the support again this year everyone. Every year has been a great memory for me of different sorts for our OGF Crappie Tournaments. This one was no different. :B

I had a great time again. !%

A special "thank-you" to the sponsors we had this year! It was very much appreciated.
A special thanks too to the "Minnow Lady" who came back to deliver twelve dozen minnows to some VERY grateful guys who had missed her! That was a class act!
I was very impressed.

Hey, you're welcome Rick, and it just wouldn't have been complete without a "Misfit mishap".
And I didn't want to see your coffee come back to you minus a donut...
It was nice to meet you too Shaun, ...your quite guy taking care of Rick so well.

little king - onions, ? ....

Ronk! - thanks VERY much for the smoked trout you gave us!! It was amazingly delicious. A couple of us had a hard time leaving it alone.

And although I didn't get much chance to talk to many of you, I still very much enjoyed seeing your familiar faces.
I do look forward to that!

I will start off by saying thanks to OGF for a great tourney. also thanks for the minnow bucket.. This was my first tournament ever and I'll tell ya I did great keeping those gills away from my partner we fished shallow and caught some fish 9th place I would also like to thank the gentelman that was in the wheelchair for the fish he gave us to take home I am not sure who that was but thank you. looking forward to the next one..

Wow, talk about some nasty weather! As I was getting pelted with that horizontal wall of water I began to hallucinate I was on a crab boat in the Bering Sea. Once I snapped back to reality I realized it was worse .I was in Ohio.

All of my pre-fish spots (< 12 fow) turned out to be blanks. At 11am I was still running around with an empty livewell so I decided to go deep (16-19 fow) and was rewarded with a non-stop aggressive bite until the end. Culled a solid 10 fish limit (5.53#) and began practicing my acceptance speech for the trophy presentation. My jaw dropped when I glanced at the leader board and saw all those 10 fish limits. Im like youve gotta be kidding me. Today?...In this weather? No way! Oh well, in the end my hat is off to everyone who stuck it out no matter how many fish you caught.

Big thanks to the organizers & sponsors. This was my first time competing in an OGF-sponsored event and I had a blast. Cant wait till next year. Who knows, I may even consider bringing a partner.

Just wanted to say thanks to everybody at OGF for another well run tourney but man i say it's time to have it in mid-summer so maybe we can have a good weather day!! Was some great fishing going on out there in those tuff conditions. Want to thank Crappiecommander for helping out with some scouting reports that would have done the trick if weather was stable but wrong wind just totally trashed those fishing areas. Want to warn everyone that the Sowbelly should be off limits to the front of the boat if there is a trolling motor to be used it will become a battering ram for whatever limb,tree,stump gets in the way. My front graph was going heywire and when we pulled out noticed transducer was hanging by a thread. So be far warned keep him in the back of the boat. Chanc glad to get to meet you sorry did not stick around had to get home father is ill was not even going to fish tourney but he wanted me to so i did. Had open heart surgery today and is hanging on in intensive care tonight. So again thanks to all and will look forward to another challenge next year.

Since 2004, Ohio Game Fishing is proud to be the oldest and largest online outdoors community in Ohio. As our membership continues to grow we look forward to reading your reports and learning from your experiences as an OGF member. Membership is free and and we welcome anglers of all species, whether you're a novice or a pro.